F5 Kit Build Started

[Badland-F5 Pilot]

Well, I know the heat is getting to everyone, at least if they are like me know I'm exhausted of it. This hasn't been our hottest summer (contradictory to what the experts say), but it's been close. I hate the issue of simply not being able to work outside. Not that I have my F5 kit yet, but, payment has been made to move it forward. Since this is a slightly different build material (the titanium frame), it's not in the normal queue along with the other orders. With that, Chris has put a potential deadline for completion of sometime in December of this year. This is coordinated to be after my move to Florida. With the lightweight of the F5 frame, Chris and I discussed potential power plants. There is the ThumpAir single cylinder 4 stroke which I pretty much decided to go with at the time of our discussion. However, after a little engine talk, there appears to be two other possibilities. Both are twin cylinder 4 strokes coming in, weighing in the 80Lbs area, and offering up to 50hp. Lots of choices. Barry here on our forum has said it the best way I know of - "The Badland Aircraft is not an ultralight trying to be an airplane, it is an airplane that happens to meet the Part 103 criteria". That's what I want and I am going for. Looking forward to going up to Truman and picking up my F5 kit come the end of this year.

[LA F2 Flyer]

The heat is certainly getting to me! And while, like you, I would say it's been a milder summer than past summers, it's still too hot to really function in the garage. My garage faces west, so I don't have many hours in the morning (and none after work) when I am not in direct sunlight. Between that and not wanting to make noise too early (to be respectful of my neighbors) it's been hard to make progress.

To top it off, we are expecting the tail end of Hurricane Hilary to roll in tomorrow evening. The weather forecasters tend to blow things out of proportion, but we'll see! It'll certainly be a first for me if we end up with two inches of rain in August!

You have a lot on your plate! I am looking forward to hearing how the year plays out for you! And I'm anxious for you to get your build started!